The Shop
Some of the constructive/decorative elements present inside the shop refer to an esthetic from the late 1800s or early 20th century and the application form mentions 1917 as the year of opening. However, the first reference to this space as a dairy appears on January 5, 1937 in a process in which the Companhia Geral da Agricultura das Vinhas do Alto Douro requests the CML to place of a glass plate, on the wall between the openings of the establishment, advertising Port wine from Companhia Velha, founded in 1756, for sale at “Leitaria de José Francisco Silva”, with the said sign also alluding to other delicacies in the shop: “Pastry, chocolates and refreshments”. The “Leitaria Académica” was established by deed on December 27, 1937 and became the tenant of the space under analysis on January 26, 1938. In 1966 a new lease contract was drawn up, when the managing partners were Manuel Rocha de Almeida and José Pedes. Between 1994 and 2018, it was owned by Raul Gomes. Paulo Jorge Pires Pereira became the owner of the establishment in 2018.
The establishment is located in an old palace (of the Albuquerque Mexia) rebuilt after the earthquake in 1787. Known as the Carmo palace (or house) (on the front wall of the shop there is an inscription with the date of the reconstruction of the palace and the name by which became known) and after 1910 as "Casa Campos e Sousa", when Augusto Cesário de Campos e Sousa inherited the property and transformed the 1st floor, where he lived, into a true gallery of art objects (according to Gustavo de Matos Sequeira). Most likely, the original spatiality predates the opening of this establishment in 1938. Although there have been recent alterations, the rectangular plan of the public sales space is maintained with constructive/decorative elements, in relief stucco and/or painted wood, whose aesthetics takes us back to the end of the century. XIX beginning of XX.
